If you were with us last time you remember the story of the Chinese mopeds. The one thing about buying online is waiting to receive the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin and the Bill of Sale so you can register your vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles. When I bought my Chinese scooter last year we had the MCO in three days. In an annoying bureaucratic mess it took five days to get the first MCO and two weeks to get the second for the mopeds. Now that they are both plated my stepsons can finally get on the road and we'll see how two Chinese mini-motorcycles fair.

I went out with the older boy this morning for a milk and bread run into Town to see how he would do. I'm happy to report he handled the trip like a veteran. I rode the younger boys moped and it's quite lively for a mere 50cc engine and will probably be even better with time and more miles. What I find perplexing is that it rides better than my scooter, soaking up bumps that cause me to to cringe when I hit them on the bigger machine. The only thing the mopeds lack is hill climbing power and, at this point, need to be downshifted to make it to the top of many grades. Maybe later when we're not breaking them in they'll be better since we're running the engines at a reduced pace near the bottom of their powerband. But for what we paid “So far, so good” as they say. They're great tools to teach the boys how to get around and get ready to drive. Now if we can just get them to pick up milk and bread on their own.